One of the rules of desk jockeying is never to give in and start dancing at work...
A lot of us have to go to work and sit at desks all day long. Many of us are also allowed to work with headphones on (hands up graphic designers!). Whatever our jobs, most desk-bound people nowadays have a computer right there in front of them. If this is you, dear reader, you have a great opportunity to fast-forward your DJing development by becoming a covert “desk jockey”.
We’re talking using all that downtime at work, both official (getting in early, lunch hour) and unofficial (you know, when there’s not much to do and you’ve already done your bit, but you’re pretending you haven’t. Come on, admit it, we all do it…) to your advantage: Namely, to audition, sort, order, even mix your DJ music, in secret. Here are our five steps to becoming a secret desk jockey…
5 steps to becoming a desk jockey…
1. Get some decent (closed-backed) headphones
This is the first requisite. None of this sitting around with earbuds on for us desk jockeys. You want bass, and you want volume.
Learn to appear like you’re listening to a spoken-word podcast…
And crucially, you want as few people as possible to twig that you’re not listening to chill-out music to sharpen your workrate – instead, you’re rocking out to some weekend 3am goodness.
Good news is, your existing DJ headphones should be just fine – if you have decent ones, they’ll be loud and closed-backed by nature. Time to remove that 1/4″ to 1/8″ adaptor and get them plugged in to your work computer…
2. Learn to suppress body and facial movements
Last thing you want is to be caught with your foot knocking out a 140BPM dubstep bassline against someone else’s desk leg, or your face gurning away as some take-me-away vocal screams into the mix, or your wrist doing an involuntary little twirl as a hi-hat pattern twinkles into your ears.
You need to learn the desk jockey’s second trick: faking boredom. Learn to appear like you’re listening to a spoken-word podcast. A podcast about long-term government bonds. One that you’ve heard before. Twice. (Also applies to: Laptop DJing in airport lounges.)
3. Use iTunes and iCloud to organise the music you own
Secret desk jockeys don’t take all that risk just to listen to and familiarise themselves with their music via an iPod. Oh, no. Having your MP3 player just playing away is amateur stuff.
Having your actual iTunes DJ playlists on your work computer lets you get some real set organising done between 9am and 5pm...
Regular readers will know we strongly recommend you organise your DJing music in iTunes, and this is yet another reason.
If you have iTunes Match (ie iCloud – and by the way, you definitely should), and assuming of course you’re allowed to have iTunes on your work PC, you can listen to all your music right there at you desk, streaming right to your ears as if you had your DJ laptop there with you.
Better, you can sort, collate, organise and delete tunes, planning playlists, defining track orders, updating your tags… as if you were at home.
4. Use streaming services to find music you don’t own
If you’re not using SoundCloud for finding new music, do so (It’s great) – and start streaming it at work (you could even access it via PartyCloud for some impromptu mixing…)
Consider adding a mainstream streaming service to your arsenal too – something like MOG, Rhapsody, Spotify or Rdio – to audition and sort new tunes while you work. Just like with iTunes, you can have playlists that you’ve worked on at home to spend this time not just listening to, buy narrowing down any new music you find. Valuable time you then won’t have to spend doing the same thing at home…
5. Learn your program-switching shortcuts to get you out of jail
You know that you work better when you’re off in a musical better place, but your boss? Well, let’s just say what he or she doesn’t know won’t hurt him or her.
Try and set your desk up so you’ll spot your boss’s approach, as you sure as hell ain’t gonna’ hear them!
Knowing how to quickly switch back to a work program using ALT (CMD for Mac users) + TAB means you can subtly hide Spotify or iTunes as your boss appears, without jumping obviously for the mouse.
Of course, you can also try and set your desk up so you’ll spot their approach, as you sure as hell ain’t gonna’ hear them! Maybe a small, strategically placed mirror? 
Do you manage to spend an inordinate amount of time at work working on your DJ sets? How do you do it? What software do you use? Got any super-secret tips and tricks to add? Please feel free to do so in the comments…
Now go to:
How to Choose a Pair of DJ Headphones
6 Reasons DJs Will Love The New SoundCloud
From YouTube: On-Demand Music Services For DJs
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Tags: desk jockeying
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One of the simplest ways of checking out loads of new tunes is to download new mixtapes by DJs you like and listen to them during work.
I copy and paste the mix tracklist into the lyrics field of the mp3′s ID3 tag, which shows up on my iPhone when I listen to the mix. Then when I hear a tune I particularly like I can note it down for later.
[ link ]That sounds incredibly useful. Do you use a 3rd party ID3 taggger? Or can you edit the lyrics ID3 in most media players?
[ link ]Well at least iTunes lets you edit the lyrics field. Just select your music and press Ctrl/Cmd+I (or go to File>Get Info, or even right-click on your music and go to Get Info). There is a Lyrics tab, you can’t miss it.
[ link ]I know. In some of the newer versions of iTunes it gives you the option in one of the tabs on the top left hand corner to search for id3 Tags and song names, albums, and even artwork.
[ link ]I will file this under the “Can’t believe I didn’t think of this before” archive. I use the comments section for this sort of thing, but they don’t show up on my iPod so your method is way better. Thanks for sharing!
[ link ]LMFAO! I feel like this article was written just for me….I am in design and i do all of these things except have itunes on my work computer….i always catch myself getting to into the music as well, its hard to control lol
Another trick i do is I have a small mirror underneath my monitor where I can see people walking behind me….I am in a cubicule and the space behind me is pretty open and people are always coming behind me to chat….so every now and then like now for example … I check the mirror so no one can get that one up on me
Speaking of I-tunes matach I have been meaning to get it…I dont know if I read incorrectly but would I be able to organize my music via the icloud adn then it would automatically updated changes on my itunes when I get home and login? Cause that would be a game changer!
[ link ]You can have iTunes running on multiple computers connected to the same iCloud account, so you can add, delete, ID3 tag, buy, arrange etc all your music, and it’s replicated elsewhere. but you can’t work on your music in the cloud – you need to do that in iTunes.
[ link ]okay thanks for the clarification…dont know how they would feel if I dl it here….however I can always bring my laptop to work and do it on my break
[ link ]Dang, if only I wasn’t front of house staff having to sit next to my manager almost all day….
[ link ]At least I can use my ‘down time’ to read this blog and others
[ link ]Windows tip: Alt+F4 closes the uppermost open window, ALT+TAB just moves it backwards so rather than hiding the window it completely closes it.
[ link ]Heh heh, obviously an experienced desk jockey, Finlay
[ link ]Yes, but arguably you could spend as much time opening and closing apps almost being counterproductive. Far better to hide them and run the risk of getting caught. We Desk Jockeys are renegades remember.
[ link ]If you are using a Mac to work, you can also use the Cmd+H (Hide) keyboard shortcut, which hides the window you have currently in front
[ link ]As a grad student, I don’t really have this problem. Although I am ubiquitously known as that guy who is head banging in the library… :/
[ link ]Funny, I’ve been doing this for years! My tips:
Download Beatport Pro! Use it fullscreen on you Mac and swipe back and forth between your desktops. Spend all day in your genre….listen to every tune released! Of course, this is an impossible task, but you can find new artists to follow in My Beatport this way!
Subscribe to load of podcasts… and when you aren’t in the mood to jump between two minute song samples in Beatport, listen to a new 1-2 hour mix and when you find a tune you like, jump back over to Beatport to buy it!
[ link ]Used to do the last thing u mentioned all the time in my old job! Now I work in a 2 man company its really difficult to get away with listening to so much music
[ link ]I am also a graphic designer and it feels like this was written for me/by me.
I have been fortunate to have worked in environments where the management is cool with you streaming audio on your machine.
It might be helpful to talk to your boss or HR department to see if it would be cool to listen to music. I am sure you can find plenty of articles backing the productivity benefits.
[ link ]Number 5 is hilarious funnyyy hhhhhhhhhhhhh
[ link ]Damn i love DDT Articles ♥
I have to be honest, I don’t believe in not being able to dance to your mix, it’s what gets people amped! Your a proformer.
[ link ]Just a heads up… BE CAREFUL when listening to music for hours at a time through headphones. Your DJ headphones can pump some serious dBs and it is very easy to slowly increase the volume over time as your ears adapt to noise levels. You are also at risk from transient peaks and differing volume levels between tracks.
here is a good link (not mine) for more info:
[ link ]http://gilmore2.chem.northwestern.edu/articles/hearing_art.htm
This is a great article!! I’m currently at work as im writing this. Lucky for me i work the night shift 3pm-12am so no one is here. I work in IT and all i do is watch servers and answer emails/phones, but besides that its easy work. I some times bring my macbook to work with my MPD24 and practice djaying with ableton. Im really getting into producing so i spend hours reading manuals for VST’s and making beats with Fl Studio on my work computer. i never realized how many DJays i work with…
After all of this i never thought about organizing my music. Thanks Phil for a new task for me to do.
[ link ]I actually learned how to ‘Desk Jockey’ at work before I even had a laptop of my own and I used some of these tactics to get by (still do).
Unfortunately, due to limited bandwidth at the office, streaming music is a no, no. So I do the buying and downloading at home then scrutinize and sort at work via a USB and tagging.
I must say, ALT+TAB is the best thing Bill Gates and his buddies ever thought of! LOL!
[ link ]I never considered some people would ONLY get the chance to “desk jockey” at work! Good skills, Rizzlah…
[ link ]I’m a designer as well and I have to say, I’m a “recovering” desk-jockey. My problem is the opposite of the article. I sit in a large office upstairs mostly forgotten by the rest of the company.
I’m the only designer for the company so I’m asked to create all sorts of things: billboards, websites, flyers and we even have a large-format printer so I’ve been able to do some vehicle wraps!
This sounds like heaven( and it is) but the problem is that once I start messing around with my tracks my productivity goes straight to hell! I know that I need to get a website done for a new branch of our business, but I just HAVE to finish that set list… lol
I’ve found that it’s best for me to keep work and personal life separate!
[ link ]Windows + D shows the desktop, then you can make it look like you’re just looking for a folder/file on your desktop
[ link ]I listen to streams in the background. When a song pops out at me I write down the name in my to-do list app, filing it in my “Tracks to Get” section.
The app, The Hit List, lets me create a to-do within any program and syncs between my home and work computers. I had the same workflow for a similar product called Things, and it probably works for Omnifocus, too.
I feel guilty about doing too much else, although reading DDJT always makes a nice work break!
[ link ]My work laptop is pretty tied down, so I cant use itunes or even install spotify. However it does give me a cahcne to go through my soundcloud inbox. I prefer using my headphone ear buds and only stick the left one in, so noone can really tell and I keep the volume low – what Phil says is really true when when my concentration with work is broken I know I got a new tune/artist I like then I get in seious desk jockeying mode I switch to beatport and put the tune into my cart or hold bin or if its not available I put it into a note in SpringPad my cloud note taking app which syncs with my phone.
Though I wish my work PC was like my mac at home, which has virtual desktops, on the mac you can quickly switch desktops with one keyboard shortcut, so you dont have the phaff of minimising a few different windows and then getting in a panic because that one you forgot to close appears just when the boss walks past – one switch of desktop and your done
[ link ]Just been suspended from work for using the computers for non work matters. Just saying…
[ link ]I had to fire someone once for the same thing.
[ link ]To become the Ultimate Desk Jockey you need to be on Mixify!
You can stream live mixing from your computer, or should you be in an office environment you can stream a pre-recorded mix and just hangout and chat with people in your room. Best way to spend time at work!
http://www.mixify.com/jon6oy
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